Jason Bateman in Talks to Voice a Character in New Animated Film for Disney Directed by Byron Howard

Jason Bateman (Arrested Development) may be lending his voice to character in an upcoming animated feature from Walt Disney Animation. Directed by Byron Howard (Tangled), the logline on the project is being kept under wraps, but appears to be an animal comedy of some sort. The picture has no release date at the moment. This would mark the first feature voice role for Bateman and could be the first solo directing job for Howard, who co-directed both Bolt and Tangled. Hit the jump for more.

Heat Vision reports that Bateman is in talks to join this super-secret picture but few other details are available. It’s possible that a recent report of voice actors on Disney’s premiere ADR studio at Stage B has something to do with the new film. From Bleeding Cool, this tweet from voice-actor Bill Farmer (Toy Story) came to our attention:

However, it’s just as possible that this recording work had nothing to do with the film Bateman is being courted for and might actually be ADR work for either Monsters University or The Good Dinosaur.

As for Bateman, he’s currently prepping to shoot Warner Bros.’ adaptation of the Jonathan Tropper novel This Is Where I Leave You for director Shawn Levy. Also on his docket is the Horrible Bosses sequel directed by Seth Gordon and, of course, the new episodes of Arrested Development premiering on Netflix.